March 18, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza has moved here.

The Biden administration will meet with Israeli officials “soon” in Washington to “discuss alternative approaches that would target key elements of Hamas and secure the Egypt-Gaza border without a major ground operation in Rafah,” the White House said on Monday.

US President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday — their first known phone conversation in over a month as a rift deepens between the leaders.

The leaders also discussed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and hostage negotiations in Qatar.

Emphasis on northern Gaza: The leaders discussed “the urgent need” to increase the flow of aid to Gaza, especially in the north of the enclave.

US forces destroyed seven anti-ship missiles, three drones, and three weapons storage containers in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Monday, according to US Central Command.

The strike took place between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. (Sanaa time), CENTCOM said in a statement, calling it an act of “self-defense.”

US forces have been conducting similar strikes in the area where tensions have heightened amid the Iran-backed militant groups’ attack on commercial vessels passing through the key waterway.

Earlier this month, a ballistic missile by the Houthis struck a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden, killing three crew members in its first fatal attack since October.

Children wait with bottles to get water in Rafah, Gaza on March 16.

The top US humanitarian aid official called a report warning that famine is set to break out in northern Gaza sometime between now and May “a horrific milestone” and urged Israel to open more land routes to deliver aid into the enclave.

The report, published by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), said that the sustained fighting and lack of humanitarian aid means famine is now “imminent in the northern governates” of Gaza and “projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May 2024.” 

Power said the “catastrophic levels of hunger and malnutrition” detailed in the report “should be unimaginable in the current era, but for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, this is the reality.”

US President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday — their first known phone conversation in over a month as the rift deepens between the two leaders. 

It came as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) surrounded the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, where the Ministry of Health in Gaza said about 3,000 people are sheltering. Israel has been waiting for the “right time to act” at the Gaza City hospital, according to IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.

Here’s what to know:

Correction: An earlier version of this post quoted a Gaza Health Ministry estimate that 30,000 people were sheltering at Al-Shifa. The ministry says it made a typographical error in its estimate and meant to say 3,000.

Doctors Without Borders recounted reports from its staff of heavy fighting around Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza as Israeli forces announced a military operation inside and around the facility on Monday.

A staff member of the organization, also called Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), reported hearing “drones, tanks, and shelling” near the hospital in the early hours of Monday, witnessing a fire rising from Al-Shifa’s main building. 

Clashes were also reported around the organization’s clinic and office in Gaza City where some staff and their families are sheltering.

According to MSF staff, Israeli forces conducted “mass arrests in the area surrounding Al-Shifa,” and one of the organization’s staff members is currently unreachable.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Monday that Israel has been waiting for the “right time to act” at Al-Shifa Hospital, in comments addressing Israel’s military operation there. Hagari said that the IDF arrested over 200 “terror suspects” who are “now under investigation.”

A child waits with empty pots as Turkish NGO IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation workers distribute food to people in Gaza City, Gaza, on March 14.

Malnutrition is complicating the recovery of children from their injuries in war-torn Gaza’s collapsing health care system, doctors say.

A growing number of children are dying of starvation and dehydration, according to the World Health Organization and Palestinian officials. Acute malnutrition doubled within one month among children in northern Gaza, according to UNICEF.

Project Hope is a US-based health and humanitarian aid organization that operates in regions facing health crises. Its emergency teams report that 5%-15% of the children arriving at its two clinics in Deir Al-Balah and Rafah are malnourished.

CNN spoke to multiple doctors who have been to Gaza since the war began. They reported seeing a lot of orthopedic injuries like limb injuries as well as burns, which present multiple layers of treatment.

In these situations, a patient needs good pain management, nutrition, antibiotic care and fluid management. In Gaza, “all those four pillars are gone,” said Dr. Amber Alayyan from Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Adding a malnourished state to that means the healing is complicated, she added.

Israel has been waiting for the “right time to act” at Al-Shifa Hospital in central Gaza, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Monday. 

Israeli forces surrounded the Al-Shifa Medical Complex early Monday, where the Ministry of Health in Gaza said about 3,000 people are sheltering.

Hagari said an “exchange of fire ensued” after alleging that “surprised terrorists barricaded themselves in a number of buildings in the hospital and opened fire at our forces.” Israeli forces returned fire and killed more than 20 people described as “terrorists” inside the hospital.

He said that an IDF soldier was killed in the operation. 

Hagari also said that the IDF also arrested over 200 “terror suspects.”

Israel also released an edited video of the operation at Al-Shifa Hospital. In the footage, soldiers can be seen moving through what appears to be the hospital building and firing their weapons. 

Some of the IDF’s handout footage was blurred. One of the images appears to be a dead body, which the IDF labeled as an “eliminated terrorist.” 

CNN cannot independently verify the claims in the video. It is unclear if the video was filmed in one location as it appears to show multiple places. In parts of the edited IDF video, the audio has been removed. 

CNN’s Celine Alkhaldi contributed to this report.

Correction: An earlier version of this post quoted a Gaza Health Ministry estimate that 30,000 people were sheltering at Al-Shifa. The ministry says it made a typographical error in its estimate and meant to say 3,000.

Jake Sullivan speaks during a news briefing at the White House in Washington, DC on March 18.

Israel killed a senior Hamas commander in an airstrike last week, the White House said Monday.

Asked to confirm the White House’s statement, the Israel Defense Forces told CNN it would not comment.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesperson, said on March 9 that Israeli forces had attacked an underground compound used by Issa and other senior Hamas officials in the Nazirat area of central Gaza. Because the compound was underground, the IDF was not able to verify whether Issa was killed, Hagari said. 

An Israeli military spokesperson said last week that Issa is the deputy of Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’ military division, and was one of the planners of the October 7 attack against Israel.

Sullivan was describing President Joe Biden’s call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier Monday when he said the senior commander was killed. He said Biden stressed the importance of a “coherent and sustainable strategy” to defeat Hamas. 

This post has been updated with comments from the Israel Defense Forces.

People leave the area around Al-Shifa Hospital after “fierce clashes” reported between Israeli forces and Hamas on March 18.

Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, said its fighters have been engaged in “fierce clashes” with Israeli forces since dawn in the area surrounding the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City.

Al Qassam Brigades said it targeted “Zionist vehicles, causing death and destruction among their ranks.”

Hamas said Israel assassinated Gaza’s Police Service Commander, Brigadier General Fayek al-Mabhouh, during its attack on Al-Shifa Hospital.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Monday that “20 terrorists” had been killed in the area of the hospital, including Al-Mabhouh, who the IDF said served as head of the Special Operations Directorate of Hamas Internal Security.  

More on the Al-Shifa raid: The Israel Defense Forces said it launched an operation at Al-Shifa Hospital in central Gaza based on intelligence that the hospital was being used by “senior Hamas terrorists.” The Palestinian health ministry said there were multiple casualties. CNN cannot independently verify either claim. 

US President Joe Biden voiced “deep concerns” over Israel’s plans for a major operation going after Hamas in Rafah during his phone conversation with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, according to a top national security official.

While he affirmed support for Israel’s right to defend itself, Biden sought to explain why the plan for Rafah could prove catastrophic for Palestinian civilians and hamper the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.

Biden asked Netanyahu to send a senior delegation of military leaders to Washington to discuss the issue further and to lay out an alternative approach to go after Hamas in Rafah. Netanyahu agreed to dispatch such a group, and Sullivan said the meeting would occur at the end of this week or early next week.

Speaking with Netanyahu, Biden “explained why he is so deeply concerned about the prospect of Israel conducting major military operations in Rafah.”

He said those concerns fell within three areas:

Sullivan described the call as “businesslike” and said it “did not end abruptly.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) surrounded the Al-Shifa medical complex early Monday, where the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said about 3,000 people were sheltering.

The IDF claimed that its operation on Gaza’s largest hospital was based on intelligence that the hospital was being used by “senior Hamas terrorists.”

Israeli forces shared video footage of what they said showed “terrorist fire” coming from buildings inside Al-Shifa hospital toward Israeli troops on Monday, according to a joint statement from the IDF and Israel Security Agency Shin Bet (ISA).

The Palestinian health ministry said there were multiple casualties.

CNN cannot independently verify either claim. 

Here’s what we know:

Correction: An earlier version of this post quoted a Gaza Health Ministry estimate that 30,000 people were sheltering at Al-Shifa. The ministry says it made a typographical error in its estimate and meant to say 3,000.

US President Joe Biden, left, and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

President Joe Biden and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the latest developments in Gaza during their phone conversation Monday, the White House said.

They said a fuller readout of their conversation would come later.

In addition to providing more aid to the enclave, the prime minister also reiterated to Biden his country’s commitment to achieving its goals in the war which include “the elimination of Hamas, the release of all our hostages, and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” according to a readout from Netanyahu’s office.

Some background: Netanyahu told CNN in an interview on Sunday that his country’s policy is to let as much humanitarian aid into Gaza as is necessary, a claim that has been disputed by aid agencies and even contradicts his own statements. In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Netanyahu sought to shift the blame for aid not getting into Gaza from his government and onto Hamas, accusing the group of looting relief supplies.

This post has been updated with information from Netanyahu’s office.

Israeli forces have shared video footage of what they say shows “terrorist fire” coming from buildings inside Al-Shifa hospital toward Israeli troops on Monday, according to a joint statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel Security Agency Shin Bet (ISA).

CNN cannot independently verify these claims.

Israeli forces say they are conducting a “precise operational activity” in the area of Al-Shifa hospital and over the past few hours, “the troops identified terrorist fire toward them from a number of hospital buildings. The forces engaged the terrorists and identified several hits,” according to the joint statement.

Israeli forces surrounded the Al-Shifa Medical Complex early Monday, where the Ministry of Health in Gaza said about 3,000 people are sheltering.

Correction: An earlier version of this post quoted a Gaza Health Ministry estimate that 30,000 people were sheltering at Al-Shifa. The ministry says it made a typographical error in its estimate and meant to say 3,000.

Boys wait while holding empty pots with other displaced Palestinians queueing for meals provided by a charity organisation in Rafah, Gaza, on March 16.

The World Food Programme released a statement Monday on their Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report about food security in the Gaza Strip that found 88% of the region’s entire population faces “emergency or worse” food insecurity and warns that famine in northern Gaza is “imminent.”

The IPC report, which was written by a group of NGOs, governments and UN agencies warned that “between mid-March and mid-July, in the most likely scenario and under the assumption of an escalation of the conflict including a ground offensive in Rafah, half of the population of the Gaza Strip (1.11 million people) is expected to face catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5).”

Here’s what else we know: According to the report, for the 300,000 people that remain trapped in Northern Gaza, “famine is expected to arrive between now and May,” and one in three children in Gaza below the age of two are “acutely malnourished.”   

Southern Gaza is also slowly nearing famine, according to the report, which found that the region may reach famine conditions by July. 

The report goes on to say that the nearing famine could be halted if aid organizations are allowed full access to the Gaza Strip to bring food, water and other nutritional products to the civilian population, and that “a humanitarian ceasefire is necessary,” for this to occur.

US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington D.C, on March 15.

US President Joe Biden will speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday morning Eastern time, a source familiar with the matter said.

The call is their first known phone conversation in more than a month as the rift between the two men deepens and comes days after one of Biden’s top allies in Washington, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, called for new Israeli elections that would result in Netanyahu’s ouster.

Biden called the speech “good” and said it reflected the concerns of many Americans, though did not explicitly endorse nor condemn the call for new elections in Israel.

Netanyahu on Sunday forcefully pushed back on Schumer’s speech during an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash.

Why this matters: The Biden-Netanyahu relationship has devolved over the past several months as frustration inside the White House mounts over what American officials regard as Netanyahu’s rejection of US advice on the war in Gaza.

That includes allowing more humanitarian aid to enter the strip, steps to protect civilian casualties and the future of an eventual Palestinian state.

The call also comes as Israel says it’s preparing for a major operation in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinian civilians have been sheltering.

The White House has said such an operation should not move ahead without a credible plan to protect those civilians. As of Sunday, officials said they had not seen such a plan.

Director-General of the World Health Organisation Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a meeting with Brazil's Health Minister Nisia Trindade in Brasilia, Brazil, on February 7.

The World Health Organization’s head expressed concern about the situation in the Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza where an Israeli military operation is still ongoing. 

The organization’s chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the concerning situation in a post on X, saying: “Hospitals should never be battlegrounds.” 

A displaced Palestinian, Hamada Abdelhadi told CNN that Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers have been “demolishing and excavating the outer edges of the hospital yards” as part of the operation which began during the early hours of Monday morning. 

According to Ghebreyesus, the hospital had only recently managed to restore “minimal health services,” warning that fighting there or “militarization of the facility jeopardize health services, access for ambulances, and delivery of life-saving supplies.” 

Still of Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Ismail Al-Ghoul who was arrested by Israeli forces at Al-Shifa hosptial according to Al Jazeera.

Israeli forces have “arrested” Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Ismail Al-Ghoul at the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera. 

Al-Ghoul and his crew were “severely beaten” before being taken to an undisclosed location, Al Jazeera said in a statement on Monday. Al Jazeera’s satellite broadcasting vehicles and cameras were destroyed, the statement added.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on the matter, but so far has not heard back.

The Israeli military operation at Al-Shifa Hospital in central Gaza is still ongoing, after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it started an operation in the early hours of Monday morning.

Approximately 3,000 people are sheltering at the hospital, the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said.

Hamada Abdelhadi, a displaced Palestinian at Al-Shifa, told CNN Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers are “demolishing and excavating the outer edges of the hospital yards.”

“Military vehicles are firing at the hospital buildings’ windows, and at anyone who is caught moving between the hallways,” Abdelhadi said.

“We are being ordered to stay inside the hospital until further notice,” he added, saying that most people in the hospital are displaced and injured, and consist of women and children.

While talking to him over the phone, incoming strikes could be heard.

According to Abdelhadi, the Israeli military operation started at around 2 a.m. local time.

On Monday morning, the IDF announced it had launched a military operation in the area of Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital based on intelligence that the hospital is being used by “senior Hamas terrorists,” according to a statement on Monday morning.

CNN cannot independently verify the claim. 

Correction: An earlier version of this post quoted a Gaza Health Ministry estimate that 30,000 people were sheltering at Al-Shifa. The ministry says it made a typographical error in its estimate and meant to say 3,000.

Israel's Mossad Director David Barnea speaks during the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) World Summit in Herzliya, Israel, on September 10.

Talks between Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Israel’s Mossad chief David Barnea and Egyptian officials are expected to commence on Monday on a ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas, a source with knowledge of the talks told CNN. 

Hamas submitted a new set of demands on Thursday, including calls for a large number of Palestinian prisoners to be released and an eventual agreement on a permanent ceasefire.

On Friday, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Hamas is continuing to hold to unrealistic demands” but announced that an Israeli team would soon be traveling to Doha to further talks.

The Israeli delegation was authorized to travel to Doha after Israel’s war and security cabinets approved the delegation’s mandate for negotiations, an Israeli diplomatic source told CNN on Monday. 

The mandate, described by the source as “red lines” sets the boundaries and scope for the negotiation aimed to release Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

CNN’s Amir Tal in Jerusalem contributed to this report.